Examinations by a specialist, sun protection all year round, not only in summer at the beach, preventing sunburn, no tanning bed visits, for which it has already been established, that they have a direct link to skin cancer. These are the advices of oncologist surgeon Iva Gavrilova for the prevention of skin cancer.
"We always talk about how to protect yourself from the sun, when we go to the beach, but the new trend is to protect ourselves all year round. And in the winter we have to wear sun protection", she is categorical.
Dr. Gavrilova notes, that skin cancer can be of two types.
“One is melanoma, which is the result of a changed mole and is the most terrible and serious type of tumor. The other type is skin carcinomas, which result from chronic skin burns. They are more harmless, because they are not life threatening, they don't give distractions. They are usually like a wound, which does not heal, but we don't pay attention to her, because it grows very slowly", she pays attention.
While skin carcinomas are on those parts of the body, which have been exposed very often to the sun - face, cleavage, hands, which is why sun protection is important all year round, Melanoma can hide anywhere, even on the hair, legs, that's why you need to see a specialist", explains Dr. Gavrilova. She elaborates, that not every mole, even changing, is melanoma, but diagnosis can only be done by a specialist.
The specialists, to which the patient should be referred first, are a dermatologist, an oncodermatologist or such, who deal with skin tumors.
"If one of them expresses doubt about a possible skin tumor, then the patient is already referred to an oncology treatment facility, where the next steps of diagnosis and possibly treatment should be made. The surgeon oncologist is the one, which removes suspicious skin tumors. These tumors in their early stages are completely curable and thus human life is saved, therefore, early diagnosis is of great importance", explains Dr. Gavrilova. With the new therapies, which have nothing to do with chemotherapy, very good disease control is achieved, even at a more advanced stage. These are targeted immunotherapy, the new ways of treatment with antibodies and tablets.
More about the risks, which lead to skin melanoma and skin carcinomas, for their prevention and treatment, you can find out from Dr. Iva Gavrilova's conversation with journalist Dragomir Simeonov and his spouse actress Sofia Marinkova. The video was shot as part of the initiative #Onko.NO. Through it, the Association of Cancer Patients is trying to draw attention to the main problems in screening, the prevention and treatment of socially significant oncological diseases.
